Professional Aviation Photographer In Dayton Ohio - Recent Work

In late 2023 I was hired for a commercial photography job at a local airport. OnFlight Aviation hired me for the second time to photograph the Embraer Praetor 500 aircraft and ground operations. They are a charter service out of Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport. They are preparing to become the local Embraer Authorized Service Center, and I hope to be back to capture that as well.

In September 2023 I traveled to Los Angeles for a weekend of tourist activities and sightseeing.  For more than 10 years I have wanted to spend a weekend in LA touring Hollywood studios, going to the beach, and visiting tourist attractions.  Additionally, I wanted to combine the trip with my love of plane spotting. On this trip, I accomplished both.

Anytime I travel, I like to photography any air and space museums in that city. For my latest endeavor, I spent a few hours at the Palm Springs Air Museum. I am an aviation photographer and felt perfectly at home here photographing vintage aircraft. One of the highlights of my trip to this aviation museum was watching a vintage WWII propellor plane take off in front of the mountains.

The number one destination for my 2023 Los Angeles trip was Clutter’s Park, just south of LAX Los Angeles International Airport. This park was made famous in my world by the crazy brother at the L.A. Flights YouTube channel. Josh and Peter plane spot LAX from this park several days a week, and being an aviation photographer, I had to see it for myself.

In October 2023 I spent 30 minutes at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California. My sole goal for this part of the trip was to photograph NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour. I thought this would be an easy in-and-out stop on my tour or L.A., but I was mistaken.

I have loved airplanes my entire life, and now I get to combine that with my professional photography skills. On a windy day in September, I went to CVG Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport to spend a few hours plane spotting. My goal was to photograph numerous takeoffs and landings featuring various types of aircraft. This was going to to be lead-up to my LAX plan spotting in October.

In July 2023 many of my worlds collided with a once-in-a-lifetime senior photo session behind the scenes after the close of the CenterPointe Dayton Air Show. I was contacted by a friend-of-a-friend to photograph his son, a senior at Bellbrook High School just south of Dayton Ohio. We discussed the upcoming senior session and how it would take place at the air show. I didn’t really understand how we’d get access to do this, but I trusted his judgement.

Special up close access to the United States Air Force Thunderbirds is rare for photographers. Normally, access to these high flying aerobatic jet teams is highly restricted to air show personnel and Thunderbirds crew. Photographers are relegated to the photo pit area, at Dayton Air Show, a tent on the flight line. On this July 2023 evening, day 1 of the CenterPointe Dayton Air Show, I had an experience I never dreamed would happen.

On July 4, 2023 I was honored to be a special events photographer at the National Museum Of The United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.  Three historic WWII-era aircraft were flying in to historic Wright Field for a two day event provided by the Commemorative Air Force.  One of the last two flying B-29  Superfortress, Fifi (based in Dallas Texas), B-24 Liberator Diamond Lil, and a T-6 Texan, WWII trainer all flew in on a foggy Tuesday morning.  A few times per year I get special access to photograph airplane arrivals from the flightline inside the gates of the museum.

On a February 2023 flight from John Glen Columbus International Airport to Orlando International Airport, I captured these views of Southwest 737 aircraft. The first is a view of downtown Columbus Ohio from the air. The second is ground ops shot of a Southwest 737 in Orlando. The third is of two Southwest 737s at the Columbus Airport.